If you can't be bothered to actually write it, why should I be bothered to pay for it and read it?

EJ, Stacy, and Amy have more bookish thoughts on their noggins, and this is a HEFTY ONE. No, we’re not turning into a tech podcast, but there is no denying AI is here, and it is a part of our world. We’re talking about a lot of different topics that are developing and diving into the technological, economic, ethical, and legal sides of AI and how it pertains to the indie romance world.

Many currently available AI tools are not great, but you may be surprised to learn why we think so.

Links to some of the many random things we mention:

• That one tweet Stacy mentioned: https://x.com/ioana_nsfw_art/status/1784169462117151189
• A Paper on Cyberpunk and Late Stage Capitalism (So it isn’t just something that comes out of EJ’s mouth, and you have just to take it): https://ideas.repec.org/a/lum/jsmijo/v2y2020i1p63-74.html
• Tiffany Roberts’ Infinite City Series: https://www.authortiffanyroberts.com/theinfinitecity
• S. J. Sanders’ Broken Earth: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52231217
• Transwoman’s AI invention modeled after her wife: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-after-life-trangender-ceo-martine-rothblatt-builds-robot-bina48-mind-clone/
• Airline AI caught lying and the company held liable: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240222-air-canada-chatbot-misinformation-what-travellers-should-know
• The Erotica Writers Subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticauthors/)
• Nifty Links regarding AI litigation on EJ’s blog: https://monsterromancereviews.substack.com/p/bookish-thoughts-who-are-ais-major
• DeviantArt and AI, the most recent legal news story: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/05/10/deviantart-midjourney-stable-diffusion-artificial-intelligence-image-generators
• Duolingo Letting Go of Translators: https://www.pcmag.com/news/as-duolingo-taps-ai-for-translation-human-contractors-lose-their-jobs
• Library resources for learning languages
  • Mango: https://mangolanguages.com/libraries/
  • Transparency Language Learning Software: https://www.transparent.com/

Check out our Podcast Scavenger Hunt Here: https://talesfromtheorcden.com/2024/05/25/ai-and-the-indie-romance-book-world/

Many of our discussions are aimed at those already in the Monster Romance genre. This one’s got the baby monster f*ckers in mind. Stacy, EJ, and Amy talk about pitfalls we’ve noticed others run into (not naming names!). And we have wisdom for finding your ideal monster romance gateway. And, yes, we do have some recommendations sprinkled throughout!

Authors, Books, and Series We Mention:

• Dusk Walker series (https://www.goodreads.com/series/345992-duskwalker-brides)
• Vera Valentine’s books, Squeak and Unhinged (https://www.valentineverse.com/books)
• Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert (https://www.kateerobert.com/the-dragons-bride)
• Deceived by the Gargoyles by Lillian Lark (https://www.lillianlark.com/pnr)
• I Married a Lizard Man by Regine Abel (https://www.regineabel.com/books/i-married-a-lizardman)
• Morning Glory Milking Farm (and the rest of The Cambric Creek Series) by C. M. Nascosta (https://cmnascosta.com/books/)
• Harley LaRoux (https://www.harleylaroux.com/)
• Tiffany Roberts (https://www.authortiffanyroberts.com/)
• Orc Sworn series by Finley Fenn (including The Lady and the Orc and The Maid and the Orcs) (https://finleyfenn.com/series/orc-sworn/)
• Uncertain Magic by Laura Kinsale (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/802157)
• Beauty by Robin McKinley (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41424.Beauty)
• Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/8089)
• Emma Holly (https://emmahollyauthor.wordpress.com/)
• Kresley Cole (https://kresleycole.com/)
• Gena Showalter (https://genashowalter.com/)
• Tail and Claw by Nancey Cummings (https://nanceycummings.com/tail-and-claw/)
• Lark Green (https://www.authorlarkgreen.com/)
• Cate C. Wells (https://www.catecwells.com/)
• Ashley Bennett (https://ashleybennettauthor.carrd.co/)
• Ruby Dixon (https://rubydixon.com/)
• Lyonne Riley (https://www.lyonneriley.com/)
• Susan Trombley (https://susan-trombley.com/)

Amy, EJ, and Stacy are back for 2024! And we’ve got more bookish topics on our brains. A hard truth about the book world is that nothing good lasts forever. That also goes for our favorite series and authors. So, let’s unpack that and dig into some of our favorite authors who have left or pivoted.

Authors and Series we mentioned:

• Erin Raegan’s Pythen series : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42052148-pythen
• Celia Kyle’s Warlords of Atera : https://www.goodreads.com/series/267591-warlords-of-atera
• Mary Auclair : https://www.maryauclair.com
• Amanda Milo : https://amandamilo.com
• Regine Abel : https://www.regineabel.com/
• Kimberly Lemming : https://linktr.ee/kimberlylemming
• N. Canceres : https://authorncaceres.com

Artist we mentioned:

• Inked Alpha : https://www.deviantart.com/inked-alpha

Where to find ARCs:

• Edelweiss Plus : https://www.edelweiss.plus/
• BookSirens : https://booksirens.com/
• Booksprout : https://booksprout.co/
• Author Newsletters
• Netgalley : https://www.netgalley.com/
• Mocks and 🐔 : https://discord.gg/6CqNQBwP5E

It is dark! The holidays are upon us! We have books to recommend getting through now and into the first blossoms of spring.

Stuff we mention in the order we mention it is on our website here.

Music is called "Undead Bride" by Pagefire https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/undead-bride

Not every book is for everyone. The trick to being a happy reader is knowing and accepting your limits. In this episode Amy, EJ , and Stacy talk about navigating content warnings and personal limits as readers and content consumers in general.

Part of this was instigated by two well-written articles from Bookriot.com and Tor.com, which are linked below. It is a generally common issue though for a lot of the Internet community to not look after their needs and behave responsibly. That’s not okay. So let’s talk about it!

Stuff We Mention

• On Dead Dogs and Other Reading Dealbreakers by Molly Templeton (https://www.tor.com/2023/10/05/on-dead-dogs-and-other-reading-dealbreakers/)
• The Importance of Knowing And Sticking to Your Own Bookish Limits by P. N. Hinton (https://bookriot.com/knowing-your-bookish-limits/)
• The Orc Sworn Series (https://finleyfenn.com)
• Playground by Aron Beauregard (https://www.amazon.com/Playground-Aron-Beauregard-ebook/dp/B0BHKP1QKL?nodl=1&dplnkId=5861d7d7-05c8-4f24-b68c-52bee3a25e74)
• The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35068705)
• Claimed and Tamed Series by M. L. Marian (https://www.goodreads.com/series/333981-claimed-tamed)
• Steel Bones Motorcycle Club by Cate C. Wells (https://www.catecwells.com/steel-bones-motocycle-club)
• The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/59046399)
• Bob’s Burgers TV Show (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1561755/)
• The Kraken Series by Tiffany Roberts (https://www.goodreads.com/series/222835-the-kraken)
• Gabriel the Drag Queen (https://bio.site/justgabriel)

Music is called "Undead Bride" by Pagefire https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/undead-bride

We talk about explicit sh*t on this podcast. We got the cute little explicit mark on every episode and everything! You could say we’re pretty knowledgeable about racy stuff in books.

So that means we all three can appreciate the difference between spicy erotic orc dick written by and for mature adults and educational nonfiction material created with young people in mind.

Not everyone can though. This Book Panic has come across our radar enough and affects us just enough that we’re devoting a whole dang episode to it.

Apologies for the lack of smut in this episode. More is coming! We’re calling this our “special episode”

Warnings for this episode include discussions about sexuality shaming, racism, and sexual abuse. Do not feel obligated to listen if you are not in a mental space to do so.

Quick update! There are Texans fighting this trend! (https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article282842338.html)

Support the Texas Freedom to Read Project: https://www.txftrp.org

View the whole list of stuff we reference on our website: https://talesfromtheorcden.com/2023/12/01/the-great-book-panic/

Music is called "Undead Bride" by Pagefire https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/undead-bride

Stacy has the main mic for this episode to tell Amy and Liz about Mate for the Alien P*rn Star by Alexis B. Osborne. This is, by far, one of the most unique books we've gotten to talk about and has been referenced in many podcast episodes in the past.

Osborne is also a world weaver so Mate for the Alien P*rn Star is but a gateway to a huge, rich world for readers.

Books Mentioned:

• Claimed among the Stars Anthology: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/59017667
• Outer Limits Quadrant Series (called the Engineering Fate Trilogy in the podcast) by Alexis B. Osbourne: https://www.goodreads.com/series/324114-outer-limits-quadrant

Music is called "Undead Bride" by Pagefire https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/undead-bride

It's time for Stacy and Liz to hear Amy talk about The Blooded Labyrinth by S.J. Sanders. If we had a podcast bingo card, then referencing Sanders would get a guaranteed box.

This book first appeared in the first volume of the Monsters in Love Anthologies. It is also part of a universe of stories Sanders has been publishing. So yes, we’re going down a rabbit hole. And we’re taking you with us!

Books Mentioned:

• The Blooded Labyrinth by S.J. Sanders: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62193829-blooded-labyrinth
• The second volume of the Monsters in Love Anthology: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59604311-monsters-in-love-vol-1
• His Darkest Craving by Tiffany Roberts: https://www.authortiffanyroberts.com/thecursedones
• The Unicorn’s Mare by S.J. Sanders: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57474977-the-unicorn-s-mare
• Exodus 20:3 by Freydís Moon: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/755738c6-05f0-40d7-be2a-85873e7db586
• Forest of Spirits by S.J. Sanders: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53928501-forest-of-spirits
• Havoc of Souls by S.J. Sanders: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50875611-havoc-of-souls
• The Fall of the Orc by Finley Fenn: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197125145-the-fall-of-the-orc
• The Scarecrow's Queen by Naomi Lucas and Mel Braxton: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75278248-the-scarecrow-s-queen

Other Stuff Mentioned:

The Scream Queenz Podcast: https://www.screamqueenz.com/


Music is called "Undead Bride" by Pagefire https://soundcloud.com/nerdymetalhead202/undead-bride